Improvement in hay-forks



W. JONES.

Hay and Manure Fork- No: 16,388. Patented Jan. 13, 1857 N.FETER5, FHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON D c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.WILLIAJI JONES, OF SPEEDSVILLE, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN HAY-FORKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 1 6388, dated January 13, 1857.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM JONES, of Speedsville, in the county of Tompkins and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Hay and Manure Forks, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings of the same, in which- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a fork embracing my improvement, part of the handle being cut ofi'; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section; Fig. 3, a transverse section of the same through the line a: m of Fig. 2, and Fig. at a modification of the same.

My invention relates to that class of forks in which the tines are made removable, so that if one should happen to be broken itcan readily be withdrawn and replaced by another. Forks made upon this plan are liable'to become loose, involving; both time and trouble in again securing them to the handle, and are not unf'requently lostaltogether, to obviate which isthe object of my invention, and which consists in arranging within a hollow metal socket, having longitudinal slots formed therein for the reception of the tines, a couple of wedges between which is inserted a wedge-shaped or conical-pointed screw, which asitenters forces the wedges apart against the inner sides of the tangs of the tines,pressing them up tightly against a ferrule that binds them to the socket.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents the handle of a fork inserted into a metal socket, B, having slots a formed in its sides for the reception of the tangs of the tines 0. Between the lower end of the socket and the inner end of the handle are arranged a couple of Wedges, E, which fit into the slots a, and have a small groove or channel formed on their inner surfaces, passing centrally through them for the reception of the conical point of the screw D, which as it enters forces them apart,

' causing them to bear against the under side of the tangs c of the tines, which are thus tightly pressed against the ferruleF, that confinesthem to the socket. In this example the screw is represented as being inserted longitudinally between the wedges; but it may be passed transversely between them, as shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 3, in which casethe channel formed in the wedges will also be made in the same direction, the socket being countersunk for the reception of the head of the screw, in order to keep it from becoming entangled with the hay or other material being handled. By this means it will readily be seen that the tines can be tightened to any required degree by merely turning the screw in the proper direction, or a tine can be removed and another substituted in its place by simply reversing it; or,

instead of using the wedges E and screw D, a

small stop-pin, c, Fig. 4, may be formed on the inner surface of the slot of the socket, so as to engage into a corresponding notch cut on the under side of the tangs of the tine to prevent the latter from being withdrawn from the former, or their relative positions may be reversed-the stop on the tines and the notch in the socket. IVhensuch an arrangement as this is used a screw-thread may be out upon the inner periphery of the ferrule with a corresponding one around the outer periphery of the socket and tines, by which the latter may be effectually secured to the former. I

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- The slotted socket B, for the reception of the tangs of the tines, when used in connection with the wedges E, screw D, and ferrule F, or their equivalents, in the manner substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto subscribe my name.

WILLIAM JONES.

Witnesses:

SAMUEL J ONES, JNo. ORoss. 

